Research suggests that anorexia nervosa and other eating disorders, whilst not prevalent in the population, have the highest mortality rate of all psychological problems. The development of effective treatment programs is therefore an important priority for health care professionals. This flexible book has been designed for use by therapists as part of a programme when working with young people with eating disorders. The aim is to help young people understand more about their own experience, and alongside guidance ofr therapists it includes a complete workbook for use by the young persons themselves. This presents tasks ranging from reflective thinking to drawing to promote engagement with difficulties as a first step to overcoming them.

Who develops which eating disorder and why? When do eating disorders begin and what fuels them? In Hunger for Connection, psychoanalyst and eating-disorder specialist Alitta Kullman expands on the "body/mind" personality organization she calls the "perseverant personality," illustrating how food and thought are linked from infancy, and for some, can become the primary source of nurturance and thought-processing for a lifetime—leading to what we call an eating disorder. Writing in a highly accessible style, Kullman brings humor and gentleness to her interactions with patients, offering health professionals and mainstream readers alike an essential guide to understanding and/or working with cyclical eating disorders of all types. From psychoanalysts, psychotherapists, and counsellors, to eating disorder specialists, researchers, and students, Hunger for Connection not only provides guidelines for therapists of varying theoretical orientations and levels of expertise, but help and hope to people suffering with eating disorders and those who care for and about them.

An insatiable need for sex and love. Periods of overeating or starving. A pattern of unstable and painful relationships. Does this sound painfully familiar? Trauma counselor Kelly McDaniel has seen these traits over and over in clients who feel trapped in cycles of harmful behaviors-and are unable to stop. Many of us find ourselves stuck in unhealthy habits simply because we don't see a better way. With Mother Hunger, McDaniel helps women break the cycle of destructive behavior by taking a fresh look at childhood trauma and its lasting impact. In doing so, she destigmatizes the shame that comes with being under-mothered and misdiagnosed. McDaniel offers a healing path with powerful tools that include therapeutic interventions and lifestyle changes in service to healthy relationships. The constant search for mother love can be a lifelong emotional burden, but healing begins with knowing and naming what we are missing. McDaniel is the first clinician to identify Mother Hunger, which demystifies the search for love and provides the compass that each woman needs to end the struggle with achy, lonely emptiness, and come home to herself.

Here, collected for the first time, 19 writers describe their eating disorders from the distance of recovery, exposing as never before the anorexic's self-enclosed world. “This anthology lends remarkable texture to a subject that has been too often sensationalized and oversimplified.” —The New York Times Taking up issues including depression, genetics, sexuality, sports, religion, fashion and family, these essays examine the role anorexia plays in a young person's search for direction. Powerful and immensely informative, this collection makes accessible the mindset of a disease that has long been misunderstood. With essays by Priscilla Becker, Francesca Lia Block, Maya Browne, Jennifer Egan, Clara Elliot, Amanda Fortini, Louise Glück, Latria Graham, Francine du Plessix Gray, Trisha Gura, Sarah Haight, Lisa Halliday, Elizabeth Kadetsky, Maura Kelly, Ilana Kurshan, Joyce Maynard, John Nolan, Rudy Ruiz, and Kate Taylor.

Annotation Humans have eaten earth, on purpose, for more than 2,300 years. They also crave starch, ice, chalk and other unorthodox foods - but why? This book creates a portrait of pica, or non-food cravings, from humans' earliest ingestions to current trends and practices.

We live in an appearance-obsessed culture. Fashion ads, magazine covers, TV shows, and movies idealize a body type that is impossible for most real women to achieve. In this comforting, liberating book, Dr. Mary Pipher, bestselling author of Reviving Ophelia, offers advice, counsel, and practical solutions for understanding our needs, our fears, and our many hungers. She shows us how we can at last learn to live at peace with the natural differences in our bodies and appetites. The rates of anorexia, bulimia, and depression for women are the highest they have ever been, and begin at ever younger ages. Dr. Pipher reveals how society encourages our misery and prevents us from accepting our looks. Indeed, for many women the humiliation of overweight or obesity is a wound that never heals. Dr. Pipher reminds us that accepting our bodies the way they are is the greatest gift we can give ourselves.

Thoroughly revised and updated with the latest research and methodologies, the fourth edition of the classic guide written specifically for parents, friends, and caregivers of individuals with eating disorders. For more than thirty years, this classic guide has been an essential resource for the “silent sufferers”—those affected by a loved one’s eating disorder. This revised edition put family and friends at the center of the treatment process, providing the latest information on the methods and practices available to facilitate the recovery process. Surviving an Eating Disorder is the first book for family and friends to use a psychological perspective to understand eating disorders. Other treatment manuals or self-help books propose change but Surviving is the first to consider why change can be so hard for everyone involved. The factors that can hinder progress are discussed and the methods that can work are emphasized. Illustrated with case examples, this fourth edition explains the latest treatments and provides the necessary tools to carefully evaluate what can be most effective for each reader’s individual care. The authors offer concrete advice and support, urging readers to care for both themselves and their relationships as they support their loved ones struggling with food and eating issues. With its combination of information, insight, and practical strategies, Surviving an Eating Disorder considers crisis as opportunity—a time for the possibility of hope and change for everyone involved.